Leak Has Garver Residents Hiking for Warm Showers

Carly Kwiecien

Showers were cold for Garver Hall residents Nov. 2-3 after a hot water coil began leaking about 5 p.m., costing the University about $5,000 in repairs, said Gary Heckman, systems supervisor. The water remained frosty for 18 hours.

Water was running out of the burner of the 1,255,000-BTUper- hour water heater, as if water coming out of a fireplace.

“In order to shower, I had to walk across the U with my shower caddy and different necessities to have my friend let me into East,” said first-year Brianna Hill. “It was either take an Elsa shower or take a walk of shame to East.”

Heckman said such water leaks are rare. “We do an acid cleaning on a regular basis to protect the water heater,” he said. “We used to have monitoring on the Garver hot water temperature and lost that capability when our old Building Automation System failed for good.”

On Tuesday morning, Nov. 3, Heckman restarted the central power plant, which had been shut down because the weather had been warm.

“Please do let us know about problems,” Heckman said. “Our apologies. We never want a student to take a cold shower.”

To report a maintenance or IT issue on campus, go to the Quick Links drop-down menu at manchester.edu and select Help Desk. If the issue needs immediate attention (such as the hot water failing) call University Safety at 260-982-5999.